


Walking on the Waves

by nprose



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale is a Human, Crowley is a siren, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:12:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21574546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nprose/pseuds/nprose
Summary: Crowley had never had to work so hard to lure in a human, until he met this one.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 129





	Walking on the Waves

Aziraphale had gone to bed, just to do a bit of light reading, but he must have drifted off. There was a beautiful song on the air, which pleased and unnerved him in equal parts. He was on the open ocean, or at least he was meant to be. There wouldn’t be any human settlements around here, unless he’d stumbled upon a populated island, which was unlikely. After the Outer Hebrides, there was nothing standing between him and the New World. Unless he’d somehow managed to sail as far north as Iceland. He retrieved his compass and his map, and stepped outside to catch his bearings. There was nothing but the ocean in front of him, to his left, to his right, but he looked behind him and found the source of the sound.

There was a beautiful woman resting on a large rock, singing. Her hair was long and red, curling down over her shoulders and Aziraphale wondered how on Earth it was dry. He looked back down at the map, just in case, consulted the compass. He shook his head a little, to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. 

A peal of stunning laughter made him look up again. The woman was covering her mouth with a hand, trying to suppress giggles. Aziraphale was truly baffled.

“Are you all right?”

“Are you?” she replied, shaking hair out of her face so she could see Aziraphale clearly, and raising one red eyebrow at him. 

It couldn’t be said that his manners ever abandoned him. “I’m very well, thank you. And you?”

“Peachy,” she said, in a tone that suggested she was making fun of him. “Where on Earth are you going?”

Aziraphale beamed. “The New World, of course!”

“You’re a nutter,” she told him matter-of-factly. “But we take what we can get around here, I suppose.” 

It suddenly occurred to Aziraphale that he was talking to a naked woman, who was sitting on a large rock in the Atlantic Ocean, hours away from the shore. He had failed to notice she had a large, shiny black tail instead of legs. Sirens are like that, I suppose.

“Come on, then, in you go,” she said, gesturing with a bright smile. “Join me.”

“In? It’s frigid, aren’t you cold?”

The bright smile dimmed slightly. “No, it’s just lovely once you get used to it. You’ll like it, I promise.”

This was around the time Aziraphale noticed her tail. And the fact that her eyes, instead of being a warm brown, or icy blue, were yellow. Very, very yellow.

“Oh,” Aziraphale said, “No, thank you. You’re a siren.”

“That’s the job.” She looked like she was holding back more laughter. “Go on.” She held out a hand, which was thin and pale, which made Aziraphale wonder if she was eating enough.

“No, I’d really prefer to stay up here, I’ve got my books up here, you see.”

A flicker of irritation broke across the woman’s face. “You can bring them with you, it’s easy.”

Aziraphale glanced behind him, in concern for his beloved books, and when he turned back, the woman sitting on the rock was looking a lot more like a man sitting on the rock. 

“More your style? Should have thought, but most of the sailors out here are much more tempted by a pretty woman.” His voice was rich, and when he smiled Aziraphale could see that his teeth were really quite pointed. Despite this, he seemed kind, and was quite beautiful. 

Aziraphale surprised himself by speaking. “Ah, I’m quite sorry, but I’m afraid not, I must be on my way.” Strangely, his small but sturdy boat hadn’t moved an inch since he saw the siren. “I’m bringing books to the New World. Apparently it’s quite fashionable to see it at least once.”

The siren tried a new tactic. He was getting quite annoyed at this point. Most would have given in ages ago. “It’s beautiful down here, you can see anything you like.”

“I’m very alright, thank you.” Aziraphale forced a polite smile. “I really must be getting along, if you don’t mind releasing my boat.” 

“I don’t think I will.” The siren’s eyes narrowed, and his teeth seemed to get a bit more pointed. Aziraphale unconsciously took a step away from the edge of the deck, but the siren had already slipped off the rock and was swimming the scant few feet between his rock and Aziraphale’s boat. 

The siren hung off the edge of the deck, resting his arms inches from Aziraphale’s shoes, propping up his chin and looking at Aziraphale the way a shark might glance at a small fish. “I’m not letting you go. You’re meant to be down here with us. That’s what happens when you hear me sing.”

Aziraphale held up his hands as if to surrender. “It was really a lovely tune, it was. Very good job with it, I’m sure you lure in all sorts of people, but I’d prefer to stay dry.”

The siren seemed to be running out of options. With a rather rude movement of his tail, he splashed Aziraphale and dove back under the sea. Aziraphale sighed, shook his head again, and vowed not to drink so much out here by himself. He’d be seeing krakens next.

“Hey! You!” 

Oh dear, he really wasn’t imagining it.

“Yes?” Aziraphale replied, ducking back out from his little cabin.

“What do you desire?”

“Mainly to get on my way again.”

The siren huffed, blowing a strand of hair off his face. It was still dry. How exactly?

“No, I mean, what’s your deepest desire? I’ve gone for the classics, you don’t seem to be particularly lustful. Or lonely.” He sounded a fair bit more irritated than anyone trying to seduce someone ought to be.

“Oh. To know things, as many things as I can know.” 

The siren got a gleam in his eye. “You’ll know so much, so much more than any human will, if you come with me. It’s easy, I’ll show you everything.” He held up a large, shiny shell, resplendent with mother of pearl. It caught Aziraphale’s eye. He did have a particular fondness for beautiful things. Not that the siren wasn’t just as beautiful.

The siren smiled a wide, satisfied smile. “You can have it. Just reach out.” 

Somehow, Aziraphale still had his bearings, though it took him a moment to remember to say no. The siren pressed on.

“There’s so much beauty in this ocean, corals and creatures, so many colorful fish--” He saw Aziraphale’s eyes widen, just a bit, and kept going. “Fish, is it? You must be hungry out here, with only dry rations to keep you company…”

Aziraphale let out a wistful sigh, He did so miss the delicacies of the cities. He was distracted a moment, remembering the hearty meat pie he’d eaten just before setting sail. 

A second later, he met the eyes of the siren, holding out a fat silver fish, which seemed just as stunned in his presence as Aziraphale was. Aziraphale reached out, thinking of the kind of fish supper he could have with such a generous catch, and his hand met the siren’s. It was hot, scorching to the touch, and Aziraphale jumped.

The siren cursed quietly but held his hand out further, insistently presenting the fish, which was starting to go a bit blue in the face. It had just wanted a nice jaunt up to the surface for some sunshine, and was fervently regretting the way its day had turned out.

“Take it,” the siren hissed, eyes all gold and shining. Aziraphale was getting a bit dizzy, and his hunger was pressing. He grabbed the fish, which promptly expired, and then remembered his manners.

“It’ll be a lovely dinner. More than enough for me. Would you like to join?” He felt himself speaking, but had no idea why he was asking.

The siren blinked, startled. This was not the way a seduction was meant to go. He’d never been wined and dined before. Maybe this particular human was just very old fashioned.

Aziraphale had an eyebrow raised, and extended his own hand, which the siren gripped, just as scorchingly hot as before, and their combined effort pulled the siren onto the deck. He flopped around a bit, like an unfortunate fish, before remembering how to manifest legs. 

He was just as naked in human-ish form, and completely unaware of the effect he was having on Aziraphale, whose ears had started to go pink. 

“Let me just fetch you a jumper, you must be freezing,” Aziraphale said, already in the process of turning.

Crowley was sitting on the deck of a tiny boat with a strange human and a large fish, thinking that he’d lost his touch. It never took him this long to bag a human. But at least this one would provide an excellent meal.

Aziraphale emerged from the tiny cabin after a moment, bearing a large, chunky knit jumper and a pair of worn trousers. Crowley did his best putting them on, but he’d never had occasion to wear clothes before, and it took him a few tries to fasten the trousers.

“So, weird human, what are you called?” Crowley didn’t usually interrogate his meals, or wear clothes, or have legs, but he supposed today he was making an exception.

“I’m called Aziraphale,” the human replied, holding out his hand, which Crowley looked at until he put it down. “Er, and yourself?”

“Crowley,” he said, flashing his pointiest smile. To Aziraphale’s credit, he didn’t react other than with a small smile of his own. He was rather lovely to look at, with wild white hair and a nose that turned up a little at the end. Crowley suddenly realized that the human had seduced him, rather than the other way around. It was shaping up to be an exceptionally strange day.

“Well, I’ll set to cooking the fish, and I think I have a decent bottle of wine down here somewhere, if you’d like, let me have a look,” the human was saying, reaching to pick up the fish lying on the deck. Crowley stared at him for a second before remembering to be surprised.

“Cook it? Why? You just bite it.” He demonstrated by grabbing the fish and taking a large, semicircular bite out of it, looking up with a mouthful of blood and raw fish. He gave one large swallow, and the fish disappeared.

“Oh,” Aziraphale said, taken aback. “Well, I’ve always had to cook it.”

“Oh,” Crowley repeated, equally discomfited. “Should I get another fish?”

Despite himself, and the fish blood on Crowley’s teeth and chin, Aziraphale was staring. He was beautiful from afar, but stunning up close, and those wide inhuman eyes were impossible to look away from.

“Human? Do you want a different fish?” Crowley himself was finding it a bit difficult to focus, which had never happened before. He swung the still-bleeding fish in front of the human’s face to try and snap him out of it.

“That shan’t be necessary,” Aziraphale replied, grabbing the fish’s tail and relieving Crowley of it. 

It made a wet plopping noise on the deck when Aziraphale dropped it. He’d been thoroughly distracted by Crowley kissing him, or more accurately trying to. There were quite a few pointed teeth involved.

“Ouch!” He took a step back, but Crowley grabbed his arm so he wouldn’t slip and fall on the poor fish. Aziraphale brought his arm up to his mouth, and his jumper sleeve came away red. “What was that?”

“You look delicious,” Crowley hissed, not sure whether it was more tempting to eat the human or try to kiss him again.

“If you’re going to try and eat me you’re very welcome to get off my boat!” A pause. “You weren’t actually--”

Crowley had wrapped his arms around Aziraphale now, feeling the relative coolness of his skin. He was kissing a bit more carefully, trying not to draw blood, keeping Aziraphale close to him. 

Aziraphale felt like he was burning all the way down to his toes. He pulled away for a breath, dazed. “Is this what you were trying to do? Seduce me?” He reached up to lace his fingers through Crowley’s hair.

“Didn’t I say that?” He paused. “I usually just eat the humans before this part, though.”

“Excuse me?” 

“Usually the singing is all it takes!”

Aziraphale’s brain was still catching up. “Wait, when you say eat, you mean what?”

“Humans are an excellent meal, we can’t live on fish alone!”

“You were going to kill me and feast on my flesh?” Aziraphale was still processing this tidbit of information.

“Well, when you put it that way!” Crowley fisted his hands in his own hair in frustration. “I don’t usually talk to them! Most of them consent and hop in!”

“I didn’t!”

“I know! I have no power over you, I couldn’t coerce you to do anything, for some reason.” He furrowed his brows. “You seem to be immune.”

Aziraphale finally let go and stepped back. “You’re lonely.”

“Sirens are solitary creatures!”

“Well maybe you wouldn’t be if you didn’t kill and eat everyone you came across!”

Crowley had to admit Aziraphale had a point. He shrugged. “I didn’t eat you.”

Aziraphale stuck his hand out again, like he had when introducing himself. “Truce?”

Crowley looked at his hand again, before Aziraphale reached out and placed Crowley’s right hand in his, then shook them. 

“You don’t eat me, and I, well, I’ll keep you company.” His ears were pink again. 

Crowley grinned. His teeth were really exceptionally sharp. It shouldn’t have been attractive. “It’s a long way to the New World, A-sira-phale. I’ll protect your boat.”

“Oh, would you? That would be lovely!” He smiled and the corners of his eyes crinkled.

“One condition.” Crowley held up a long, skinny finger, close enough to Aziraphale’s face that his eyes crossed. “More of the mouth...thing.”

Aziraphale laughed, and Crowley frowned, until Aziraphale kissed the tip of the finger he was holding out. “Deal.” 

And it was an excellent deal, for a formerly lonely siren and a curious human. Just not the poor fish that ended up on the deck of Aziraphale’s boat, the Heaven on Earth.


End file.
